It's thyme to tell you about The Boys In the Band

How did it get to be 8 days before Christmas?

The STUDIO has been very busy these days.

Today I wanted to show you a project 

called

Boys in the Band

Design 

is by 

Cynthia Erekson

My Palette

Lamp Black , Deep Burgundy, Country Red, Shading Flesh, Graphite, True Ochre, Hauser Medium Green, Dusty Rose, Neutral Grey, Dark Chocolate, Warm White, Snow White, Antique Maroon, Milk Chocolate

Lets paint

I found these bellows in an antique shop.

I knew they would be perfect for this design.

I began by base coating with Lamp Black

I cut pieces of sheet music copies to fit my project

 

I had to piece the pieces together to fit but the seams won't show on the completed project as you will be painting over this.

I used a sponge brush

 to apply 

to my surface

I also applied it to the backs of the sheet music

Carefully pick up you sheets of music and position them on your project.

I used an old credit card as a"squeegee" to smooth out any bubbles.

I trimmed the excess from the sides.

Let this dry overnight!

Once dry I applied Deco-Page to the TOP surface of the music

I find that is is best to be patient with the drying process 

of the Deco-Page

to prevent bubbling of your papers.

When completely dry sand lightly

The pattern packet comes with 4 designs. 

I only used one design and adapted it to this surface

I taped off the bottom edge. I used a stencil brush and pounced on Deep Burgundy.

I grunged a tag and used Deco-Page once again to apply sheet music to the tag.

Let your tag dry!

You can find my RECIPE for grunging 

HERE

I taped off my sections once again. I used the flat side of a 2" sponge brush to slip slap a Graphite wash on my surface.  I scrunched up a paper towel and dabbed the wash to "rag off'  the color. This creates a mottled sky. Let this dry well.

I keep a small blow dryer on my paint table to speed up drying times.

I mixed some Graphite and Warm White. 

I used the chisel edge of a Stain It Brush to establish the horizon.

I then turned my brush so that the chisel edge was vertical. I streaked color across the ground. I lifted the brush at the edges to feather out the color.

I added Lamp Black to the dirty brush and shaded around the edges.

I used a clean Stain It brush to streak snow across the ground with Warm White.

I used the same brush to scrub faint clouds in the sky.

I then loaded a Moon Brush with Shading Flesh. It is important to wipe off most of your paint when using these brushes so that almost no paint remains on your brush.

I then used the chisel edge to scrub faint color above the horizon line.

I also scrubbed some of this color between the clouds to create a "rosy glow" in the sky.

I transferred the main line drawing. 

Add details as needed.

I like to use Silver Micron Mini detail brushes for a project like this.

Base coating the details of the Santa.

Starting to shade the coat

Painting the trim on coat.

Close-up of my work so far.

I used DecoArt Traditions DOME BLENDER to do a lot of the soft shading and highlights.

Working on the face and beard.

Adding tiny details

When I paint beards I layer my colors .

Leave some of your base coat showing !

Wispy beard!

Working on sleigh.

I've painted in the trees, salt box house, musical instruments and even the tiny mouse.

I dry brushed some White Frost Metallic Lustre to the snow

Next I spattered the area where the Santa is painted. 

I covered his face with a DIME before spattering.

* To SPATTER easily use a stencil brush loaded with thinned paint. Hold brush over project surface. Repeatedly flick the bristles, pulling them towards you with a palette knife.

I squirted a dime size puddle of Lamp Black on my palette.

Around it a squirted out 4 puddles of Glazing Medium

I then added a few drops of Easy Float to this mixture

I mixed with my palette knife. 

I then applied this mixture with a sponge brush to the bottom area of the bellow that I had painted Deep Burgundy.

I used a scrunched up paper towel to "rag off" this mixture and create texture.

I used a cosmetic sponge with Warm White to stencil on the snowflake.

I painted a small amount of Silver Bling Glamour Dust Paint to the snowflake

I taped off the top portion of the bellow that I left the original wood.

I applied two coats of Ultra Matte Varnish to the remaining sections.

Here you can see a close up of the Deep Burgundy area that I glazed.

Let dry completely!

I cut a piece of homespun. 

I also painted some Silver Bling on the tag I made.

I added a rusty bell.

DecoArt 

provided me with the paints to complete this project as part of their

Helping Artist and Blogger Outreach Programs.

Thank you Rosemary Reynolds and DecoArt!

I hope you have enjoyed watching me paint 

Boys In the Band

Happy Painting !

 Lynn